Schools

ETHS Recognizes Nearly 20 Students of the Month

ETHS staff members nominated students from all grade levels for a range of achievements, including improvement, supporting classmates or demonstrating "Wildkit-ness."

The following information was submitted by Evanston Township High School:

Evanston High School celebrates Students of the Month

Evanston Township High School celebrated November Students of the Month at a breakfast on December 13, 2013. ETHS staff members nominated nearly 20 students for the month of November and recognized a range of achievements, from showing great improvement and being supportive of classmates to demonstrating “Wildkit-ness.”

Find out what's happening in Evanstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

ETHS honorees represented all grade levels and were joined by family members, teachers, department chairs, principals, and other administrators. Brief statements were made about each student of the month and certificates were presented during the event.

ETHS students recognized at the Student of the Month Breakfast on December 13 include (pictured from left): Nakita Daniels-Alexander, Henry Honzel, Armando Miranda, Jarrell Anthony Monsanto, Samuel Blustein, Alex Gerst, Han-Ray Jahn, Travion Banks, Summer Kelly, Ethan Ducayet, Janeth Rico Gomez, Samantha Heinz, Sadie Hurwitz, Grace Sarkor, Noa Solomon, Porsha Richardson, Jeffrey Martinez. Students of the Month not pictured: Makonnen Berry, Savannah Norfleet.

Find out what's happening in Evanstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

ETHS Math Department announces winners of Straw Bridge Building and Breaking Contest

Evanston Township High School held its 34th annual ETHS Straw Bridge Building and Breaking Contest on December 6, 2013. The winner of this year’s competition is Beth Legator with a bridge that held 6.1 kilograms. She is a student in Brandon Batchelor’s class. 

The bridge building contest allows students to apply the math and science lessons from their classes to a hands-on project. Students design and construct small straw bridges which are weighed, tested and scored by efficiency.

Other top bridge builders include:

  • 2nd place: Noah Rogers (6 kilograms; Jose Cotte and Dale Leibforth’s class)
    3rd place: Isabel Miller (4.1 kilograms; Maryjoy Heineman’s class)
  • 4th place: Eleanor Goes (3.2 kilograms; Richard Agin’s class)
  • 5th place: Lia Nelson (3 kilograms Zach Herrmann’s class) 

Evanston Township H.S. students win top spots in urban debate 

ETHS Urban Debate Team members (pictured left to rightDanny Frank-Siegeland Alex Joh-Jung took first place at the Thomas Kelly Bustamante Debate Tournament held in December 2013. This is the second championship win of the year for the freshmen.

ETHS teachers choose best writing for NCTE essay contest

Evanston Township High School (ETHS) teachers completed the first stage of an annual essay contest sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Five students were named winners after the review of 67 impromptu essays written about a topic provided by the NCTE.

This year’s writing prompt included the following: “Imagine you have been asked to choose four figures for your own personal Mount Rushmore. Instead of national ideals, these figures would represent your personal ideals.  What qualities would you want to preserve and celebrate?” 

Congratulations to the following students who will move forward and compete for national recognition in the NCTE Awards in Writing: Claire GreisingFidak Khan,Katie BuddeEsther Isaac and Max Goldsmith.

Parent group awards grants to Evanston High School teachers

The ETHS parent group, Parents Engaged, announced its third round of funding for Wildkit Grants, a program of classroom grants for ETHS teachers.  With a maximum amount of $500 per grant, the program was created to encourage creativity in the classroom and to help teachers provide enrichment activities for students.

Six grants were awarded in November, ranging from the purchase of spectroscopes to funding for a college application prep program for first generation students. The total amount awarded was $2,000 this school year. Donations from parents and ETHS teachers made the grants possible. Grants awarded this year include:

  • Spanish teacher Clare Delgado received funding to purchase Spanish language books to enhance ETHS Spanish students’ collaboration with District 65 students participating in “Battle of the Books” literacy enrichment program. Honors Spanish 4 students are required to reach out to Evanston’s Latino community, and these books will facilitate tutoring Spanish speaking elementary school students.
  • World History teacher Aaron Becker was awarded funds to purchase photography books and used guitars for his classroom.  Mr. Becker uses these non-traditional learning tools to enhance the world history curriculum and to find creative ways for students to learn about different cultures and traditions.
  • Choral Director Theresa Reed was awarded a grant to help update the music program’s vocal repertoire library.  Ms. Reed directs all of ETHS’ choir groups.  These funds will enable her to purchase a series of musical scores and sheet music to replenish and refresh this resource for our music students.
  • Counselor Tina Tiziano Dreher received funding to purchase supplies for the College Application Prep (CAP) program.  This program will assist first generation students in the college application process starting with research on colleges and universities during junior year through the college application and financial aid process in fall of senior year.
  • English teachers Sara Williamson and Julie Mallory received funding to purchase a set of graphic novels to supplement texts used in their freshman English classrooms.  These visual novels will help students connect with classic literature in different ways and make that content more accessible to students. 
  • Gionmatthias Schelbert, of the Astronomy/Physics department, was awarded a grant to purchase 40 new handheld spectroscopes.  These instruments will be used in both Astronomy and Chemistry classrooms to study light and will allow each student to use his/her own instrument in the classroom. 

Wildkit Grants Committee members Jane Corey Holt, Rebecca Groble Hull, Maria Widmaier-Senecal and Karen Larkin Young reviewed grant requests, which were submitted online.

“Parents Engaged is pleased to be able to provide teachers with resources they may not otherwise have available in the classroom,” stated Jane Corey Holt.

Donations to fund next year’s Wildkit Mini Grants can be made through the ETHS web store:  https://eths.revtrak.net/tek9.asp?pg=PTSA_Donation

For more information about Wildkit Grants, contact Jane Corey Holt at janecoreyholt@aol.com.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here